Pure as the Snow
by Hikari Konoshiro
Summary: Shuichi's been having weird dreams recently, and he can't understand what they're trying to tell him. And Yuki is worrying about Shuichi after finding him crying in his sleep. What are the dreams trying to tell them? Old memories might just be resurfacing
1. Chapter I

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter I**

_Each night it was the same dream. It had been for months. Usually it went so fast that all he saw was a giant blur. But tonight was not the case. Tonight his dream would not allow him to awake to the gentle golden sun beating down on him. Something in the universe had shifted._

_Tonight the dream started as it usually did. It was the same blur, but slower. And still it slowed. Finally the scenery became clear._

_He stood upon a mound of snow. It was pure, fresh, white, untouched snow. Not even where he stood was there footprints in the snow. From the heavens the snow fell, fresh snowflakes covering the ground. Snow upon snow. He didn't even sink where he stood._

_Then the picture sped up. The snow gradually turned black. He looked around, puzzled. No other being was around nor was there anything other than he and the snow. He looked up at the snow pouring from the sky. It too was black, as black as the night sky. He looked back down and horror met his eyes._

_The snow, once pure white and devoid of any sort of human touch, was slowly but surely turning red. Blood red. He gasped as the red spread over the snow like a plague in what seemed like seconds, until he stood among a sea of red. Hesitant, but still wanting to know what it was like, he bent down and took some snow into his cupped hands. He felt the urge to vomit as the smell of fresh blood devoured his senses. The snow that was held in his hands was retuning to it's normal, pure white state, but the rest of the snow was still covered in the foul colour of blood. And now, the blood from the snow stained his hands too._

_And, like before, he saw a familiar blur of colours as the gentle morning sun greeted him into the living world once more. And, on his innocent hands, was the faint mark of blood._

_

* * *

_

That morning was the same as the mornings in their house had been for several months now. Both novelist and vocalist would be sitting in silence eating breakfast. It seemed like all the life in the house had disappeared. And there was one more thing the great novelist noted.

The silence had begun on the same night he'd first heard Shuichi sobbing to himself in his sleep.

Despite not being his usual bouncy, hyperactive self, the vocalist didn't seem to have the faintest idea he had been crying in his sleep for months now. But last night in particular had torn Yuki's heart out, which was very rare indeed. He'd come into the bedroom after finishing up working on his next masterpiece just moments ago, to find Shuichi fast asleep, but looking as if in a nightmare, tears trickling down his cheeks like tiny rivers and curled up in a ball, as if freezing to death. Yuki couldn't even comprehend what had gotten to his little lover so badly. All he could do was lie next to him, and stare as the poor vocalist sobbed harder and harder. Each sob was deafening to Yuki. He'd never seen Shuichi like this. Not once.

The fire from the house had gone out.

"I'm finished," mumbled the usually energetic vocalist. He got up from his seat and placed the empty plate on the counter. For some odd reason, he didn't even ask to wash up today or at least help wash up. Instead, he began washing up without consulting Yuki (not that he minded anyway, but this was a change to what he normally expected to happen). Just as he was filling the sink, Yuki switched the tap off. Shuichi looked up at the older man, who placed his hands firmly on Shuichi's shoulder.

"Out with it brat. What's wrong?" Yuki asked, though his tone made the question seem more like a command. Shuichi simply blinked.

"Huh?" he asked. Their eyes met for a brief moment. It felt almost as if Yuki was staring into his soul. His gaze was so powerful. He tried to break eye contact, but Yuki put his hand to his face and moved his face back up so he had no choice but to face him. This way, Yuki could easily tell if he was lying.

"You've been too quiet recently. I know something's up you damn brat. So come on. Out with it. You can't keep secrets from me,". Shuichi blinked some more and took a deep breath. Should he tell Yuki about his weird dream, the same one which had haunted him and plagued his thoughts for months? Or should he pretend everything was fine and genki? He didn't want to worry Yuki, however he wasn't too impressed with the idea of bugging Yuki with his problems either. No, it was much better to have a partially worried Yuki that an angry Yuki any day.

"I'm just feeling a bit under the weather. It's nothing really. I'm fine," he lied. Yuki looked at him questionably, almost as if he didn't believe him. But after a long hard stare into the vocalist's innocent eyes, he found himself with only one answer. There was a tense pause.

"Okay. I trust you," he replied simply. Trust. The word struck Shuichi's heart like a thorn. He didn't want to keep secrets from Yuki. He wanted to tell him everything…

… instead he sent his older lover a small smile of gratitude for his trust and belief in him and continued with the washing up.

* * *

_**A/N:** Well? How'd you like it? Is it good? Are you enjoying it? I'm not certain in which direction I'm going with this, so please bare with me. I wonder if any of you have understood the deeper and hidden meaning of Shu-chan's dream. If not, I guess you'll have to read on to find out. I'm not very good at updating fast, so please bare with me! I promise to update as fast as I can. I hope I portrayed Yuki and Shuichi's characters right – I'm usually very bad at that and make them too different from how their supposed to be. Well, please review and tell me what you think. I accept flames right now, but I'd rather you gave me constructive criticism personally -sweatdrops- Oh well. Please review!  
_


	2. Chapter II

**_A/N: _**Hey! It's me! I'm actually back really quickly with an update today, which is incredibly unusual for me. Oh well. Anyway, I firstly wanna thank all of you that reviewed. Coming home from school to my computer this afternoon and finding about seven emails with reviews for my story really made me feel all special : ) Usually I only get, like, two reviews per chapter I write or four reviews if it's a one-shot, so I feel all grateful to all of ya : )

Anyway, here's the update you were all waiting patiently for. Hope you enjoy it: )

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter II**

Touma was in hell.

Because of the rising popularity of Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper all over the world, the poor keyboardist was being worked over-time. He hardly even had the time for his own _wife_ now. N-G just seemed to be working harder than ever. However, there was just one small problem.

Shindou hadn't come into work for week.

Bad Luck didn't even have his lyrics for the new song so they couldn't even start piecing it together without the vocals. Everything just seemed to be going hay-wire. The worst part was that Touma couldn't ever seem to get a hold of Shuichi, because whenever he called their home either no one would pick up or Yuki would answer, saying that Shuichi had already left for work and to stop calling him and disturbing him.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Touma! You're working tooooooooo hard again!" said the pink bunny that had now popped up next to him. Touma smiled one of those fake smiles he gave to everyone.

"Ryuichi, I _know_ I am. But I'm afraid I haven't got much of a choice. The place has been in a bit of a panic since Shindou stopped turning up for work. But I'm fine really. I enjoy what I do," he replied. Ryuichi stood up, shook his head and muttered a few unintelligible words to Kumagoro. He then turned to Touma and sighed.

"Kumagoro-kun says he doesn't understand why you push yourself so hard, and so _we're_ going to pop round and go and check on Shuichi today after work. We'll find out what's wrong!" he said. Touma opened his mouth to argue, but Ryuichi was already out the door bouncing and hopping from foot to foot, as if doing some sort of dance, singing something like 'Sparkly Shuichi!' as he turned the corner outside Touma's office. Touma sighed, closed his eyes and then resumed work. There would be no point in arguing with Ryuichi anyway. It wasn't like the 31 year old singer would listen anyway. He had the mind-set of a child, and he wasn't happy unless he got his own way. But that, perhaps, was what made him such a talented vocalist.

* * *

Yuki stared as the clock seemed to tick on forever.

_Tick-tock. Tick-tock._

He stared at the blank document that was sitting on his laptop. He was _supposed_ to have finished this chapter by today, but he just couldn't seem to focus. He felt like something in the universe had shifted, something huge and powerful. But he wasn't sure what it was.

He rose to his feet and went into the living room. Perhaps he could shake off this bout of writer's block in an hour and have the chapter finished and typed up by the end of tonight if he relaxed for the moment and allowed the thoughts to come to him. For some reason, today the ideas weren't flowing through his mind and onto the paper as they should. He sighed and set off back to his study, when something out of the window caught his eye. He blinked.

"Strange… since when does it snow in July?"

* * *

_The snow was cascading down from the sky. It was a white wonderland, full of endless possibilities. He stood, on the mound of snow once more. Once more, the pure white snow lay untouched, devoid of any human intervention or creature intervention at that. The snow continued to fall, never ending. He could not see anything, no matter how far he looked. The world was white, pure and white._

_The sky above gave birth to stars. The stars shone beautifully in the sky. The snow still fell. He stood, staring up at the sky, when again it happened. The snow falling turned black. The snow on the ground was black too, and the entire world seemed to be covered in darkness. The stars suddenly went out, and everything was dark._

_Then, the sound of crying echoed in his mind. Crying, from somewhere deep inside this dream world. Someone's sobbing. It sounded so sad. The sound seemed to drum through his mind like a constant rhythm that he couldn't chase away._

_Light emerged from this world of darkness, if only for a brief moment. The world's crying continued. And the skies above turned red. That same red which he hated. Blood red. The snow too, was once again red. He fell to his knees. He didn't understand. In his cupped hands he picked up snow, which returned to it's once pure white state, and the blood was left on his hands once again._

_He cried._

_

* * *

_

Shuichi awoke to find himself lying under a tree in the park. The day had been beautiful. He'd been skipping work for a week now. It wasn't because he didn't want to come in. He just didn't feel right recently. He felt like something in the world had shifted, but was unsure what. It seemed like a powerful force was calling him… calling him…

… From inside the dream.

* * *

_**A/N:** Nehehe. Sorry, it's a short update. But I think I have a pretty good idea where I'm going with this now : ) Anyway, thank you all once again for your generous reviews. They mean a lot to me, and I view every single review I get and treasure them all. All your input is greatly appreciated : ) Well, that's it from me for now. Ja ne, and review soon!_

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	3. Chapter III

**_A/N:_**Hehe. I am back once again with an update: ) I'm actually really enjoying writing this story. It's quite the change to the stories I usually write. I've corrected some spelling and grammar errors I discovered last night while re-reading chapter II now and I'm also going to share with you all a little piece of info that you don't care about or don't actually want to know, but tough. I'm telling you anyway : P The inspiration for this fic has actually come about while listening to 'Mononoke Hime' from the Hayao Miyazaki film, Princess Mononoke. Seriously, I cannot write this story without listening to this song or being in lessons, bored out of my brains. Anyway, also I want to thank all of you who have reviewed. I really love reviews : ) They make me feel all special, so I do appreciate them.

Anyway, thank you all for reviewing and I hope you like chapter III!

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter III**

The impossible had finally happened in Tokyo. It was something no number of experts or weather men could've seen coming. It was a complete mystery to them how it'd happened, and a bit of a miracle too.

It was snowing in July.

The weather reports shocked everyone, but it was true. Surely enough fresh snowflakes fell from the now grey sky and covered the ground below in a blanket of white. The so-called 'experts' were predicting the snowfall would be continuous, and they had no idea when it would stop. It was grim news for some, but brilliant news for others. Young children went outside that day in July with their coats, scarves and hats on, all warm and woolly to play out in the snow. It was an unusual phenomenon, and an unexplainable one at that.

The young vocalist who had been sitting under a tree in the park for what seemed like hours was now gone, and curled up in bed back at home. The second he'd come in sneezing and coughing, Yuki being a bit more overprotective than normal had told him to go to bed and try to relax. Well, the fact he had a cold was only one reason for this sudden change of behaviour. Yuki was beginning to worry about his little lover. Touma kept calling him up nearly every day that week saying Shuichi hadn't gone into work, when Yuki knew for a fact that his lover had left for work every morning that week in a not-so-cheerful mood. Some days that week he just hadn't bothered picking up the phone, since he knew what Touma was going to say. He felt eventually he'd have to question Shuichi about that.

The doorbell rang. Yuki, who had been sitting in his study still trying to get over his writer's block opened the door to greet a rather white looking singer with a pink bunny in his hand. Ryuichi shook the snow from off him and smiled up at Yuki.

"Hello there Mr Yuki! Touma's been worried about Shuichi since he keeps missing work, so we came over to see if he was okay, ne Kumagoro-kun?" he said, hardly giving Yuki a chance to decipher his words. Yuki was about to respond and tell Ryuichi that Shuichi was ill right now and couldn't speak to him, when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned round to see a sleepy Shuichi who was still sneezing a bit.

"Who is it Yuki?" he asked, trying to see past Yuki. Ryuichi didn't need much more of an invitation than that and practically launched himself at Shuichi. He was overjoyed to see his friend, even if it had only been a week since he'd seen him last.

"I thought you were asleep brat," Yuki said. Shuichi shook his head.

"Couldn't sleep. Anyway, hello Mr Sakuma. It's good to see yo– ACHOO!" sneezed Shuichi. Even in the small space of what he said, Ryuichi could tell from the way he spoke that Shuichi was not quite up to talking right now. It seemed Yuki could see that too.

"Mr Sakuma, I think it might be better if that damn brat went back to bed now," he said. Shuichi gave him a classic Shuichi pout, something which he hadn't done in quite a long time. He wondered why, even when he wasn't feeling well, Yuki felt he had to call him a brat. Looking over at Yuki though, in his golden eyes he could see a small shred of care buried deep among the other emotions that were clearly visible through his eyes. Shuichi nodded.

"I guess I should. I wouldn't want you to catch my cold Mr Sakuma," he said. Ryuichi nodded.

"Okay Shu-chan! You have a good long rest! I'm gonna go back to N-G right now and tell Touma you've caught a cold and you'll be off sick for a little while!" he replied. As much as Ryuichi wanted to stay and talk to his friend, he also wanted what was best for Shuichi. And right now, what was best for him was resting.

And with that final comment, the 31 year old singer bounded out of the house and headed for N-G, completely forgetting he had his phone in his pocket and could just call Touma and tell him rather than running back to N-G…

* * *

The household was quiet once more. Shuichi lay asleep in the next room. He had collapsed a little while after Ryuichi had left. Turned out his cold had developed into a fever and so Yuki had had the pleasure of dragging his little lover back into bed again.

Yuki was now sitting in the study, trying desperately to finish up the chapter before the end of the evening. But every time he began writing his gaze wandered outside, where the snow fell freely from the sky. It was the first time in history that it was snowing in July, and it even interested Yuki as it did many people around Japan. He then struck inspiration.

He knew exactly how to write this story. He clicked into the document, and in bold typed in the title:

'Pure as the Snow'

* * *

_The strange world formed around him once more. It seemed like the snow was even heavier this time though, as it fell from the sky. It was still beautiful, pure white snow. The colour reminded him of the innocence of a child who had no such knowledge of death or suffering. It was strange this idea was coming to him now. He'd never actually thought of the snow that way._

_Darkness spread over the land once again. It covered every nook and cranny of the dream world. And the world was sobbing and crying, just like a child who had discovered darkness for the first time in their life. He covered his ears. The sound was deafening, and was nearly enough to bring him to tears. He felt like his heart was being ripped out through his chest. Each sob cut deeply into his soul. It was unbearable, enough to drive anyone to insanity._

_The lights of heaven had gone off. The world was still engulfed in darkness, and this seemed to last an eternity. However, he knew exactly what was coming next. Why was it this dream each time he closed his eyes? Why was there blood staining the snow at his feet? Why was the sky red, the colour of blood? And more importantly, why was it every time he touched the red snow, it would return to purity and the blood would be left on his hands? Just what in the world did it mean?_

_He drifted in and out of thoughts, not even noticing the voices in the wind calling out to him from the dream world._

_

* * *

_

"…_He drifted in and out of thoughts, not even noticing the voices in the wind calling out to him from the dream world…"_

Yuki sighed and stared at the screen. There it was, his first finished chapter. The inspiration had suddenly come from out of nowhere. This story didn't have the heroine his books were famous for, but instead the main character was a man of about nineteen years of age. He hadn't actually included any physical description of the character thus far, but that was because in his head he could not _picture_ his main character. He seemed to just see these things in the perspective of the character. He rose to his feet once more, and headed to the bedroom, passing the living room window on his way. The snow still fell heavily, showing no signs of giving in. Tokyo looked to be more like a winter wonderland right now than the city it was famous for being. Shaking his head, Yuki headed onwards to the bedroom.

What met his eyes could've easily killed him.

His little lover was lying in the bed, crying, curled up in a ball…

… and there were blood stains on his hands.

* * *

_**A/N:** Hehe. I've had sudden inspiration too. I think Yuki's slightly slipping out of character( not that he was greatly in character to start with), but I does not care. I thinks Yuki should act in whatever way I think suits the mood. But how does Yuki know about the contents of Shuichi's dream? Is it pure coincidence his new story is entitled 'Pure as the Snow' and happens to contain the same details as Shuichi's dream world does? Or is a bigger force at work? Ahaha. Even I don't have the answers XD I guess we'll just have to wait and see ne? Well, review soon! This was a longer update so I hopes you all enjoyed it: ) _


	4. Chapter IV

**_A/N:_** I'm back once again! I'm seriously enjoying writing this story, and even more so because I'm getting lots of reviews for it! You guys are brilliant! I hope that it rains cookies so you can all receive the thanks you deserve for reviewing!

Unfortunately, I can no longer reply to reviews in the fic because **Dejichan4444 **has helpfully reminded me that it's against fanfiction's rules (thank you so much for the heads up! I hope you gets lots of cookies and you enjoy this chapter!) and my fic would be in danger of being deleted. But I've edited it now. Anywho, I'll just say a general thanks then for all the reviews. You guys have truly inspired me to keep this fic alive: )

Now, I present to you Chapter IV of Pure as the Snow! And let me tell you this will be one very interesting chapter to read… mwahaha. But I'm not telling you why : P

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter IV**

Hiroshi Nakano strummed the guitar using various techniques. Suguru began to slowly join with the keyboard.

This was the point where Shuichi Shindou would come in with those fantastic lyrics his fans loved. But he wasn't at the studio that day. In fact, he hadn't turned up for over a week. Hiro, having been his best friend for years, was beginning to get worried about his little buddy. This simply wasn't normal Shuichi behaviour. It was fortunate that Ryuichi had popped in moments earlier to tell them that Shuichi had a cold and would be off for a little while longer, or Hiro might've become too suspicious and headed over to Yuki's place himself to ask him (or rather demand that he tell him) why Shuichi hadn't been into work for a week.

Sighing, Hiro placed his guitar down.

"There isn't much we can do till he comes back into work, so why don't we just go and tell Touma we're going home until Mr Shindou comes back into work?" Suguru spoke up, turning off his keyboard "Besides, there isn't much we can do until we have the lyrics to work from,". Against his better judgement, Hiro nodded.

"Yeah, we might as well. I think I'll go see Shuichi too after work, just to check he's really alright," he replied. Suguru smiled the same sort of smile his cousin Touma gave everyone.

"You really care a lot about Mr Shindou, don't you Mr Nakano?" he asked. Hiro smiled back and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, well we have been best friends for a long, long time. I guess since he's a bit accident prone I do worry about him a lot. But that's just what best friends do, right? They look out for each other," he answered and began packing up his guitar "Besides, I need to check the cause of this cold of his wasn't because of a certain author,"

* * *

Yuki had been seriously jolted last night. It was the last thing he'd expected to see after finishing up his chapter and going to bed. And also, it was the last thing he'd expect of Shuichi.

He sighed and looked over at the pink boy, who was now fast asleep on the couch now. This morning he'd got up and told Yuki he was going to work. Yuki, knowing full well his lover was in no condition to go into work, had told him to go back to bed. Shuichi had complained he didn't want to go back to sleep again, and so Yuki had made him up a bed on the couch, so he could watch TV and rest. After only five minutes of staying awake though, Shuichi had dropped off fast asleep. The good thing was he didn't seem to be having a nightmare today, nor was he crying in his sleep like usual.

His gaze shifted to the window again. The snow was getting heavier, and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. All the TV reports had said that all residents were advised to stay inside, as they weren't sure how much longer this snow would last or how deep it might become.

Right now the city looked like a giant mountain of snow, and much less a city.

Another idea came to his mind for his next chapter as he closed his eyes for a second. He sat down next to his laptop and began typing.

* * *

_The dream world drifted back into his dreams once more. The same sky, the same scenery and the same snow fell in the white world. Each time he came here, he was sure something kept changing about this world. The first night, it had been that he could see the scenery. The second night, it had been the sobbing of the world. Last night, what had changed hadn't been visible, but he had felt something in the world shift. _

_This time, he could feel something huge in the world was beginning to move._

_The beautiful snow falling from the sky suddenly became heavier. The darkness engulfed the land once more. The sobbing came. That painful sobbing which drilled into his heart so. And the sky began to turn red, as did the snow beneath his feet. _

_This time, he heard a voice._

"_Pick up the snow," it said. He obeyed, unsure of why but he obeyed. In his small hands he held snow, which returned to its pure white state, as it should. That blood had been left on his hands again._

_The voice came again._

"_You are the only one who can purify the snow," it spoke. He looked around. The red was everywhere._

_  
"How?" he yelled "How can I purify all this snow?"_

_Silence._

_The voice did not respond. The red world began to spin out of control. He felt as if he was falling… falling to destination unknown…_

_

* * *

_

"_The voice did not respond. The red world began to spin out of control. He felt as if he was falling… falling to destination unknown…"_

Yuki scrolled up and down the chapter, admiring his work. He felt the story was really getting somewhere. Even if the main character wasn't a woman, he was sure his fans would eat up his newest work.

Staring out of the window once again, Yuki noticed something very peculiar indeed. The snow falling which was once beautiful and dazzling white…

… was now turning black.

It was odd yes. Turning around, another horror met his eyes.

The same spot where his little lover had been sleeping…

… was now completely empty.

* * *

_**A/N:**Ahaha! Are you getting it yet? Well, I have to say with regard to how quickly I'm getting this all done, I doubt this fic will exceed six chapters. Not that I mind anyway. Anyway, questions questions! Where has Shu-chan disappeared to? Why is the snow in Tokyo turning black? In fact, why is it snowing in July at all? And what's the deal with the voice telling Shuichi that only he can purify the snow? And what will happen when Hiro turns up at Yuki's and discovers Shuichi's gone missing? Hehe. Only I have the answers, and I ain't giving them away just yet: P But I will tell you the inspiration for this sudden twist in the story has come from DN Angel, so I wonder if you can guess what's happening. Anyway, if you want more, y'all had better review or you'll **never **find out the hidden meaning of Shu-chan's dream! Ja ne, and see ya next time: )_


	5. Chapter V

**_A/N:_** I have returned, yet again with your daily dosage of Pure as the Snow! I am onto my fifth cup of tea with a mountain of Demerara sugar in it and have had to go back to my room and put on my writing t-shirt so this chapter will live up to the chapters before it. You know, when I first started writing this story that fateful day during Maths class, I couldn't see myself putting it up on fanfiction or even reaching four chapters. And now we're onto chapter five! Huzzah: D I am most pleased! And this is what comes when you give me the incentive to write by reviewing! I write faster than ever! In fact I'm really, **really** enjoying writing this fic! Will be an awful shame when it's finished, since I doubt there'll be a sequel or another Gravi fic coming out of me anytime soon : ( But oh well. Let's not dwell on that right now, and just enjoy the story, eh: )

As always, thank you for your reviews! I feel so grateful to all of you and I hope it snows cookies so you can get the thanks you deserve! I take the time to read every single review I get. My email inbox is currently **full** of fanfiction's reviews for this story, so I thank you all from the bottom of my heart: ) I'm even managing to get a chapter or two written every night since I know that you're all patiently awaiting more. Anyway, that's that taken care of. I hope you enjoy Chapter V!

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter V**

The worried soul of Eiri Yuki, stood motionless at what sat before him.

The couch, where his lover had been lying just hours before, was now completely empty.

He couldn't move. He was frantic, but unable to move. His face showed none of these emotions though because of the mask he had created managed to shield the waking world from being able to see such emotions, as they would make him seem weak, something he most certainly didn't wish to seem.

He, in his own words, was no different to a lost puppy that couldn't find its way home.

He felt lost for two reasons. One, was that the person he cared more about than anyone else in the world (though he'd never admit that to anyone, not even himself) had vanished without even leaving so much as a note to where he'd disappeared to. The second was simply the fact his lover had gone without a trace. Not having the hyperactive pink soul around made the house feel so… empty. But then again, ever since Shuichi had started having these 'nightmares' in which he knew they were, the house had felt rather lifeless anyway. But at least he was around. It gave him a sense of security to know someone would always be there when he came home.

Now that someone has disappeared.

The doorbell rang impatiently, but the novelist failed to move. He simply stood there, unable to focus on both tasks at hand; the task of opening the door and the task of thinking of where his lover could have possibly gone. Eventually, it ceased and he heard a familiar growl of frustration followed by stamping footsteps which disappeared down the stairs. But the visitor did not matter right now. All that mattered…

… was finding Shuichi.

It was after a little while though, Yuki managed to calm himself down. Sure, Shuichi wasn't around. But he was bound to come back soon, right? He shook free all the fearful thoughts of what might've happened to Shuichi and decided to at least wait until the morning before completely worrying about him. Sighing, he sat down beside his laptop and began typing once again.

* * *

_The world in which he feared had taken him, body and soul, among it to be one within the dream._

_He stood once again on the mound of snow, eyes cast up at the sky. Where the sky had usually been a brilliant yet feared red it was now engulfed in darkness. There were no stars to give even the smallest bit of light. There was no moon to reflect the sun's light. It was just endless, eternal black night sky, devoid of the lights of heaven._

_The snow at his feet, however, was a shade of red which nearly made him vomit. It was blood red. The most hated colour of the world happened to be at his feet, and all around. The sky stretched onwards to place unknown and the red snow disappeared off into the distance, giving the feeling of endless red snow for miles around. It was bad enough of the colour, but the stench was overpowering, so much that he vomited just moments later. It felt like being next to a newly dead corpse, the blood fresh and disgusting._

_The world continued to cry. It sounded helpless and pathetic, like a baby unable to do anything for itself as its life slowly slipped away. Or like a child who had just done something unforgivable and was even afraid of itself. It was loud and clear, ringing in his ears so much so he stuck his fingers in his ears to drive away the sound. It didn't work, and the sound cut deeply at his heart. It was sad yes, but most of all it scared him. The sound was clearer than it usually was. The smells here were stronger than they usually were. Most of all, the feel of things here felt more realistic, as if he were really here in the dream world._

_This was no illusion._

_He crouched down and hugged his knees close to his chest. Each moment he stayed here he felt like a part of himself dissolved._

"_Only you can purify the snow,"_

_What the heck did that mean anyway? What was this world trying to tell him?_

"_Free the snow. Heal the snow,". The voice rang out, clear and true. _

"_But how?" he yelled back "How?"_

_The voice didn't respond, as if to say 'Figure it out for yourself'..._

_

* * *

_

"_The voice didn't respond, as if to say 'Figure it out for yourself'…"_

Yuki sighed and sank back into his chair. It was about two in the morning by the time he'd finished writing. He had been constantly going back and checking the house to check Shuichi hadn't come back yet. He still hadn't returned.

The novelist buried his head in his hands. Usually he would've heard something by now. He couldn't even reach Shuichi's phone to get in contact with him. The phone would simply ring and ring some more. He realised this effort was wasted anyway, when he discovered the vocalist's phone lying in the bedroom. Which would mean something big had happened. Shuichi never went _anywhere_ without his phone.

And while Yuki kept his eyes hidden behind his hands, small tears which he had kept locked up were beginning to journey forward.

* * *

The snow of Tokyo fell more heavily. The black snow, was a phenomenon that no one had ever encountered before. It was odd for it to be snowing in July, that was true. But for the snow to suddenly turn black like that? It was just something no one could make sense of.

The snow had covered every building in sight. Not a single area of Tokyo lay untouched by the snow. The sky above held no stars or even a moon that night. There were no lights from heaven on to give the citizens reassurance of the light. And on that very same night of the fourth day of snow…

… the world cried out.

* * *

_**A/N:**Yes! I managed to live through another chapter! Huzzah: D I really wasn't looking forward to writing this chapter with the confrontation of Hiro and Yuki, so I just left it out for now. Obviously, they'll have to confront each other at some point, just not yet. Only because I simply couldn't think through Yuki's reaction straight. Anyway, this story won't finish up in six chapters me thinks. I think it shouldn't last more than ten chapters though, even including the epilogue that is due shortly after the last chapter. Anyway, questions we do have! Who is the mysterious voice from the world? Why has Shuichi been taken into the world anyway? How comes Yuki is writing all of Shuichi's dream without even realising it? Why has the snow turned black? And what's with the last line of the chapter: **"… the world cried out,"**? Is the world really crying out or not? Am I confusing you: D Hehe. I'm glad! Are any of you getting what's going on yet? Well I only just decided who the voice was yesterday while writing chapter III so I doubt any of you have much of a guess who the voice is. But is Shu-chan's dream finally making any sense? I'm gonna give you a big hint here: **'FREE THE SNOW. HEAL THE SNOW.'** You getting it yet? Nope? Oh well –shrugs- I tried. Anyway, for quicker updates and more chapters of the story, I suggest you all review quickly and that **everyone** reading this story review. The more reviews I get the better my chapters turn out, y'know? So it's up to you to help me get my inspiration to continue or not. Anyway, review soon and ja ne: ) _


	6. Chapter VI

**_A/N:_** Here we are, once again! I bet you're all thinking 'Chapter VI? That came out last night!'. Well to tell the truth, I was reading through the reviews and I read Suanne's reviews, which always give me a great deal to think about. And after thinking about it for a little while, I decided to re-do Chapter VI. I was struggling with writing it for quite a while since I'd lost the spirit of it for a while, and then all of a sudden my best mate Cia said she'd help me write it. She only managed to write two paragraphs, but it was enough to kick start me back into gear again! So here I am once again, with the **new** chapter VI! I like this one better. More tension involved. And I used another one of your suggestions Suanne, and took out all the bold from the actual text of the story. You were right it really **did** draw you away from the actual story! So thanks for the advice, and I hope you all enjoy the rewritten Chapter VI!

I am now officially dedicating this fic to my mate Cia, who has helped me get back into the writing spirit once again. Chapter VII should be up tomorrow after we consult and finish writing it **together**. Or at least, me write it and her read over it and check its all good. Thanks a ton Cia: )

Also, one last thing. Just to clear things up, anything written in _italics_ is about Shuichi in the dream world (which I hoped you've worked out is where he is). And, if Yuki is writing what is happening you'll know because it will be mentioned either before or after the text changes to _italics_.

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter VI**

**(rewritten)**

The morning of a new day was different. Yuki stared, and blearily opened his eyes. And there it was. That pang of loneliness that tore his heart in two. He didn't even need to go and check on Shuichi. He knew he hadn't come back.

Rubbing his temples, the novelist leaned back into the chair which he had fallen asleep in. Fingering the phone on his desk for the thousandth time, he wondered whether he should ring Touma. Maybe Shuichi would have come back by now, and was waiting for him at N-G or something like that. Yuki sighed, his heart overruling his head. He really had no other choice. Touma had much better chances at finding him anyway. And so, he picked up the phone and began dialling.

* * *

Humming a tune to himself, Ryuichi made his way to Touma's office in N-G. He wondered if Shuichi was okay. His cold had been keeping him off work for some time now and he was a little concerned about his little buddy. He shrugged off the thought. It didn't do him good to focus on such things. But as he neared Touma's office, he could hear Touma's voice from inside, sounding as if a certain block had hit him squarely on the face. The certain block known as reality.

"No Eiri, Shindou's not here. What? He's disappeared? Do you have any idea why? Did you have an argument or something? Yes, I do find it odd he'd suddenly leave like that. He didn't even take his phone? Yes, that most certainly is odd. Have you tried searching for him at all yet? Well, don't worry Eiri. We'll get Shindou back, I assure you. I'll call K and the others immediately and we'll brainstorm and think of any possible places Shindou might be, then we'll start searching. In the mean time, just stay calm Eiri and try to think of any possible reasons for his sudden disappearance. It could be vital information to help us find him. Yes. Goodbye Eiri,"

Ryuichi stared at his blond band mate from behind the door through the gap where the hinges of the door met the door frame. He watched Touma put his hand to his head, as if trying to ward off an oncoming headache. Then after a few moments, he picked up the phone once more.

"K, this is Touma. Listen, gather up Nakano and Fujisaki. Yes, it's urgent. Shindou's gone missing,"

* * *

Yuki sat in front of the laptop, staring at the open document. In the few hours Shuichi had been missing he had hardly been able to concentrate. His heart hurt. His head hurt. In fact, everything just seemed to hurt. Even breathing was beginning to hurt. It hurt because he was alone. It hurt because the one who mattered most to him wasn't there. But none of these emotions were shown through those cold, hard eyes of his. He suffered silently and alone.

Looking at his story thus far, he could see pictures flowing through his mind. He felt compelled to write more and set about work using the images in his head to sculpt his story.

* * *

_Alone._

_He had felt this for some time now, but the statement was much truer now than ever. He sat on the snow, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. Darkness overtook the world once again. This happened occasionally, he had noted in the time he'd been here, but each time it suddenly went dark, it scared him. The fright was real each time because he was so afraid._

_The crying of the dream world continued. It was a pathetic cry and it was getting louder and clearer. He thought it might drive him to insanity. This world was filed with so much pain. It didn't surprise him that no one seemed to live here amongst the snow._

_The overpowering stench of blood clung to the air all around. That sickening… horrifying smell of blood. Fresh blood. He'd thrown up on more than one occasion since coming here. It was even difficult to breathe here from the smell that lingered all around._

_The voice hadn't spoken to him in hours. Perhaps, he thought, that was what made him feel even more lonely._

"_Help me, somebody… help me…"_

_

* * *

_

"_Help me somebody… help me…"_

Scrolling up the page, his gaze moved up to his vivid description of blood. He felt the reason he could write it so well was because of his own personal experience of blood. That experience that only one person had overlooked and helped him forget and focus on the better things in life.

Shuichi…

Even the name stung at his heart. He felt so empty… so alone. He wanted Shuichi to be beside him once more so he didn't have to feel so alone anymore. Those cold, golden eyes just proved how much he missed that brat as a single tear fell on the keyboard and he put his hand to his face, as if trying to shut himself off from the rest of the world.

* * *

The black snow fell heavily from the sky of Tokyo. Children who had been once happily playing out in the snow of July now feared it as never before. People were confined to their houses. They dare not go outside. It was almost as if the plague was out there, waiting for them. It was now officially day five since the snow began falling in Tokyo... since the darkness took over Tokyo…

… and the world was still wailing.

* * *

_**A/N:** Well, that's it. I think this one's a bit better than the other version I wrote, so I hope you enjoyed reading it too. The figure will come into play in chapter VIII now, I think meaning this story will be slightly longer than I had anticipated. But that's fine 'cos now I've got a friend who's willing to help me out when I get stuck with writer's block. Anyway, first two paragraphs were written by my mate Cia. We're both fourteen, though she older by about a month so credit goes to her. Thank you for all your kind reviews, and see you next time for chapter VII! _


	7. Chapter VII

**A/N:** Hi hey! We're back! This is Hikari **and Cia!** A little word before you start reading this chapter: **IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE REWRITTEN CHAPTER VI WE ADVISE YOU GO BACK AND DO THAT NOW OR YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND THIS CHAPTER AT ALL!** –coughs- Ahem. Now that's taken care of, I'd like to say thanks for all the people who managed to review the edited Chapter VI, be it by PM or actual review. **Comments and suggestions are always welcome to help us write the fic!**

-long pause- Okay, the bold bits have been typed by Cia. I will recap and tell you all that from now on my best mate Cia will be assisting me in the writing of this fic. She somehow helps me get out of my daily funks and write, but you can tell from the difference in writing style who wrote which bit. Today, the entire 7 paragraphs of the beginning section (not sure if that's what you'd call them but whatever) were written by Cia. **The rest were written by Hikari during Maths class today, when she really should've been working**. –sweatdrops- Yeah, suppose so. Anyway, credit goes to Cia. This fic is also dedicated to her, just so you all know.

Remember, the bits written in _italics_ are what's happening to Shuichi in the dream world. We hoped we'd established that in the last Chapter but just in case you forgot, we thought it best to remind you again. **And if Yuki's writing it you'll know 'cos we'll have typed it before of after the big block of **_italics_.

Now, if you haven't already, go back and read the rewritten Chapter VI! **But if you've already read it, we hope you enjoy Chapter VII!**

**

* * *

**

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter VII**

Touma looked at each of the four standing before in turn. It was eight o'clock in the evening of day one since 'the news' had reached Touma and he had alerted four important figures in the singer's life to dine at a restaurant after work in order to break 'the news' to them.

There was Hiro, the best friend. Touma studied his face, every line that etched with worry and his dark blue eyes concerned. Hiro knew something was up all right.

Then Suguru. Looking at his cousin's unreadable expression so like his own; Touma knew that Suguru was probably mulling the situation over and putting together bits of information until the whole thing fell into place.

Mr Sakano, having already been told the news, was running round, tearing his hair out. Touma sighed, hoping Hiro and Suguru wouldn't take the news this way too – he didn't need any more hysterics

And finally K. The manager was stroking his gun; he too had also already been told. His blue eyes were bright and expectant, waiting for Touma to spill the news.

Touma sighed again and took a deep breath.

"Listen everyone. As some of you already know we have a crisis on our hands. I'm afraid Shindou has gone missing…"

* * *

_A cold wind blew its way through the dream world, sending him into shivers. He curled up in a ball, desperate to stay warm. The darkness spread over the world once again, leaving him frozen with fear. He felt like he was literally waiting for death, leaving him cold, lonely, afraid and, above all, confused._

_Each moment he spent here a piece of himself seemed to be dissolved away by the impending darkness._

_The cold ate hungrily at his bare toes and fingers, making them both swollen and numb. He sobbed quietly and alone. He hated it here. He wanted to go home. He wanted to return, back to his world. But he knew he could not. Not until he solved the mystery of the snow._

"_You alone have the power to heal the snow," spoke out the voice for the first time in a long while. He simply didn't respond and suffered silently, curled up tightly in a ball and praying someone would find him._

"_Save me… please save me…"_

_

* * *

_

"_Save me… please save me…"_

Yuki sighed, staring at the last line of text. He wondered what had caused him to write this story in the first place. The last line of speech had simply come to him, as if he himself was the person being call by this character from his story. He sighed once again. Shuichi had been missing almost two days now. In fact, it would be two days by nine o'clock. And, as if on cue, the clock on his desk beeped, indicating it was now nine o'clock. And then, for the second time in six years, he allowed his loneliness and grief to take firm hold of him and he collapsed on the desk, sobbing his heart out. His miracle had been taken from him. And the moments without him just seemed to last an eternity.

* * *

Day six of the snow of Tokyo had become a world news story. Everyone wanted to know the reason behind the snowstorm of Tokyo, but no one could work out the mystery behind it. A glimmer of light flickered in the sky and went out as quickly as it came, giving false hope the darkness would soon pass. False hope rang out…

… and the world was dark once again.

* * *

_**A/N:** Short no? Sorry, it was the best we could do in a short space of time. **There's some really horrid woman charging around our ICT room and kicking us out if we aren't in there doing homework, so we can never get the story finished properly. **Instead we end up writing it on my handy black notepad and then I type it up when I get back from school. Anyway, hope you liked that Chapter. **More are coming your way soon so review!**_


	8. Chapter VIII

**A/N:** Yo there people! **We're back once again with Chapter VIII!** This story is actually beginning to get longer than I had anticipated, but we're loving every moment of writing it!

First, before some background info on today's chapter, a big thanks to you all for reviewing! **You guys are brilliant!** Do you know how much these reviews mean to us? **It means that people actually _like_ our writing!** It never ceases to amaze me how much people can like a story I just threw together one Maths lesson when I got bored…

To respond to Suanne's question, I myself tend to read fantasy, and have read Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy and his Keys to the Kingdom series. I literally just finished Memoirs of a Geisha today during French. I've read the Kel books, written by some author I can never remember her name but most of my inspiration for my stories comes from either the things around me, my head or simply the music I'm listening to. **I've read the Abhorsen Trilogy too, and the Keys to the Kingdom series. I'm gonna borrow Memoirs of a Geisha off Hikari when our other mate Kirst finishes reading it since she's been dying to read it too. I introduced Hikari to the Kel books by Tamora Pierce (probably spelling her name wrong, but whatever) and I also read the Alana and Daine books by her too. Me and Hikari read an awful lot, be it manga or fantasy books. **Even fanfiction counts as reading right? Anyway, there's the very long, round about answer to your question : )

Anyway, info on this Chap. I started writing it today during… erm… RS I think? Anyway, I did this Chapter working from the original Chapter VI but changing a little more. I wanted Cia to rewrite the opening, to make Eiri seem less miserable, but it didn't go as planned. **–sighs- Kari's much better at writing Eiri suffering than me… guess that's cos I love him so much! – EIRI! –glomps Eiri-**. –sweatdrops- Uh-huh. I just have a natural knack for writing extremely sad scenes. It isn't my fault! But anyway, Chapter VIII has been written fully on my own, once again but Chapter IX will be another joint chapter between the two of us. You'll notice the strong similarities in Chapter VIII to the original Chapter VI, in fact most things are the same. However some are different. I may have made Eiri's pain a little more subtle… I don't know. Anyway, hope you like this chapter! **It's a good one, honest!**

One more thing though. Remember that anything in _italics_ is Shuichi in the dream world. **And if Eiri's writing about it in his story, you'll know because it will be written before or after the large chunk of **_italics._ That's it! **We hope you enjoy Chapter VIII!**

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**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter VIII**

For three whole days now, Shuichi had been missing.

Touma, having no luck at finding the pink haired singer, had decided to drop by Eiri's home to check he was coping all right. However, although he secretly knew that his old friend would not be fine, he was unsure of how bad it really would be.

He approached the front door to find it unlocked, almost as if Eiri was waiting for Touma to arrive… or maybe he was expecting someone else. In any case, he pushed the door open and went inside, shutting the door as he entered.

The sight that met his eyes was most certainly a tragic one.

In front of him, sat Eiri typing furiously at his laptop which he had moved into the living room. The cold hearted novelist's eyes were deep in concentration, but as he looked up Touma could definitely notice the effects that three days without Shindou had had on him. The man sitting before him was a lost soul, with no guidance to the light. His eyes had lost their usual fire and spark and simply stared at Touma, emotionless, although Touma was sure that, had it been anyone other than himself visiting Eiri, they would've seen his eyes as the usually did and not with the hidden sadness Touma could see. His hair was a complete mess, and it didn't look like he had slept well or even at all since Shindou left. The clothes he wore smelt unwashed and in fact Eiri himself smelt like he hadn't bathed at all in the time Shindou had been missing. Blinking, his eyes tried to cover up his misery but Touma could see right through it. Eiri was a complete wreck, and the sight was killing him.

"Eiri… have you been writing all this time since Shindou left?" Touma asked, staring at the mountain of text on the laptop's screen. Eiri nodded, a pang of loneliness echoing in his heart at the mention of his lover's name. Looking at Eiri, Touma noticed too. He felt compelled to sit beside Eiri and hold him close, like a mother might hold a child. Eiri didn't move or flinch as he might usually. He didn't cry either like Touma had expected. He simply sat there and wished someone would take the pain away. Then, shifting away from Touma once more, he returned to typing.

* * *

_Cold and alone, he lay on the snow, curled up into a tight ball. Tiny drips of water that were flowing freely down his face fell onto the snow. In a way, he wished death would just carry him away. It would be better than this loneliness and pain he felt. But he would not give in. Not to the darkness. Not until he solved the mystery of the snow. He was the single spark of light shining in this world…_

"… _the only one who can heal the snow," the voice continued, as if able to read his thoughts. A flicker of light caused him to open his eyes and sit up. The light twisted and moved to form the slender form of a young man. And the light dissipated and scattered, leaving the form behind. Rising to his feet, he pointed an accusing finger._

_  
"Y-You!"_

_

* * *

_

Staring out of his apartment window, Hiro wondered where Shuichi could have possibly gone. They'd checked all of his favourite hiding places and even called his parent's home to see if he had gone there. K had even gone to the extreme of checking all flights leaving Tokyo in case he'd planned to run away. But nothing had come out of that. It was almost as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth, not to be seen again.

He put his head in his hands. They'd been best friends so long that surely if something was going on, he would've told him, right? But no. Shuichi was gone. He had left them and there was nothing they could do about it. Nothing.

They were blind to his pain and now facing the ultimate price. They were helpless… helpless and powerless…

* * *

However hard life was right now, life always continued. It was a lesson mankind had always had to learn and deal with. But the city of Tokyo seemed to have stopped dead. No longer did the bright neon lights of the city shine out, nor was there anyone about. The roads were deathly silent. The snow had brought both joy and pain. The citizens of Tokyo were now experiencing the latter. The snow fell heavily from the sky.

Day seven of the snow came to a close.

* * *

_**A/N:** Oh how I loved writing this chapter! **You just like seeing Eiri sad 'Kari! **Well, no actually, seeing Eiri sad makes me sad. But he just seems to be better written when I make him sad. **–sticks tongue out at Hikari- Anyway, that was Chapter VIII**. We really do love writing this story and your reviews give us more cause to write faster. **We hope to be back tomorrow with Chapter IX, which I wrote the beginning to today.** And I hope to write the ending of it tomorrow. **Until next time! **Ja ne and review!_


	9. Chapter IX

**A/N:** Well, we're back! **And we changed our username!** We figured since we'd be writing stuff together for a long time from here on in, maybe the username better be for the both of us. **Even though I don't have the internet at home so the only time I get to see the fully typed out Chapters are after we've written them during lunch or break or whatever, from Kari's print outs or from going on the school computers and accessing **So anyway, we are now officially Hikari-kun and Cia-chan! Which is odd considering Cia's older than me! But anyway, that's not important is it?

Oh, and a note to Suanne. We're completely un-offended by you calling us kids!**To be honest we never act our age anyway, so we've gotten completely used to it**. Like the kids at our school say Anime is for little kids**. ****So they're calling us little kids to, and we've learned to deal with it. **If it's the price for something we love, we don't care. It's definitely worth it! ******So what we're trying to say is that we aren't offended by your comment at all! **We figured you were older than us anyway, considering the way you review is far too mature for someone of our own age. ******And we honestly love reading your reviews because they give us so much to think about!** In fact we should be saying thanks to you! ******Thank you!** And we're glad that someone thinks we write well for our age. We were getting worried that our writing style was out of whack before we starting writing this fic, so we owe you lots of thanks!

Okay, we're a bit late with adding this chapter. I've got Cia on the phone right now so I'm just adding everything she wants to say.**We were at our mate's eighteenth birthday party yesterday, and we were practically dead by the time we got home. **It was around 11pm before I actually got home, and then it was midnight because I quit watching Gravitation to go to sleep, so therefore I didn't get enough time to post up Chapter IX, so I apologise.**Hehe. Kari got hyper on _air_ for god's sake! **Hey! And on coke! And Cia somehow managed to get hyper on water. ******We were sitting on our mate's staircase, giving all the balloons names. **I named the purple one Ryu, the blue one Tatsuha, the pink one Shuichi and the light green one Yuki.**And I named the yellow one K, the pale blue one Hiro and the white one Touma. **We were looking for a Suguru balloon, a dark green one.**But there wasn't one! –sobs-**. –sobs- It was very evil. We think that our mate was conspiring against us and didn't bring a dark green one on purpose!

Anyway, enough about us! We'd like to thank you all for reviewing!**Heaven help us we have been writing furiously this week so you wouldn't kill us for not updating fast! **Today's chapter was written by Cia on her own. ******Well, until I gave it to Kari to read over and she changed a few bits and added the ending bit (after the last rulered line). **I was trying to think of a good way to write this chapter but I couldn't so I left it to Cia. ******And we're nearing the end of the fic! Huzzah! **But even if you're completely confused by the ending of this chapter, don't worry it _will_ all get explained it due time!** So, that's it from us! **Hope you enjoy Chapter IX!

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******Pure as the Snow**

******Chapter IX**

If you had happened to stop outside Bad Luck's recording room in N-G studios that day, and had taken the time to looking, an unfamiliar sight would have met your eyes.

The pink haired, hyper-active Bad Luck vocalist was nowhere in sight – in fact it had been so for more than a week now and everyone from the best friend to the manager was affected. Even Mr Sakano had stopped wailing, and there was an awkward silence hanging in the air.

Hiro shifted uncomfortably and strummed a chord on his guitar, inspiration from a new song coming from nowhere. He opened his mouth, and his voice was deep and enchanting – like he was singing from another world…

* * *

"_Y-You!"_

_The light was now taking a form and he could make out the brown hair, those familiar light brown eyes and that mocking smile curled around the lips. A mocking laugh rang out, making Shuichi cover his ears as he tried to block the sound out. He was thrown backwards as a fist connected with his gut._

_Yuki Kitazawa smirked at the crumpled form on the blood red snow._

"_Heal the snow you fool," a shadow flickered across his face "Heal me,"_

_

* * *

_

As the novelist read back over his work, his eyes fell onto two names, and he froze. How could this have happened? He had vowed never to say his name again – let alone type it unconsciously. And why Shuichi? Pain tore through his heart as he read over his lover's name again and again. A thought struck him. Could this be a clue to where the vocalist was? The inspiration from this story had come out of nowhere, so could this possibly be true? Could Shuichi be trapped in the dream world of his story with Kitazawa?

Yuki shook the thought free from his head; that was ridiculous, he was just tired. He shook his hair out of his eyes and, once again, his fingers flew over the keys of his laptop.

* * *

"_Heal the snow, heal the snow. You keep saying this but HOW? WHY?". There was another thud as a punch was thrown his way. It clipped the edge of his eye and he stumbled back, clutching his face. A shadow loomed over his hunched form._

"_Fool. I've been sending you this dream for months and you STILL haven't figured it out. Now, I bring you here, and all you do is ask 'how' and 'why'. And all this while you act as if YOU suffer. Unless you heal the snow, NO ONE will be free. Not myself, nor can he,"_

_

* * *

_

As the last chord was strummed, Hiro seemed to come out of his trance, and he blushed, embarrassed. Suguru studied the guitarist's face carefully. Something wasn't right – that much was clear. Usually Hiro's singing voice left a lot to be desired but now…

He turned to K, who was stroking his gun thoughtfully. K nodded and they both left the room.

"It's odd,". K nodded again.

"The words he used – what was he singing?"

"They were powerful words," murmured K "almost other worldly… alien, and full of pain,". A look of understanding passed between them and they turned to go back in the studio, when a scream ripped through their minds. Suguru collapsed to his knees, clutching his head in pain whereas K slumped against the wall next to him, his face scrunched up as if in an unimaginable pain. The sound was loud and familiar, and there was a definite pain amongst the noise, indicating extreme suffering. And soon, it died out as if it had never been there. Shaking, Suguru rose to his feet, his hand still clutching his head. Looking to K, they exchanged glances – the identity of the scream could not be denied.

It was Shuichi who cried out.

* * *

The snow gathered and piled up into a huge mountain of black snow. It was perfect, pitch black snow like the dead of night, the likes of which no light could banish. People had begun to loose hope in ever being rid of the snow. And one poor soul cried out to be heard from the hell they were in.

Darkness reigned. Day eight was brought to a standstill. Tokyo's time had stopped.

* * *

**__****A/N: **_Wow! I can't believe how well that came together!_******That's cos I'm a genius! –stands on chair proudly-**. _–sweatdrops- Okay. Whatever you say Cia. Anyway, Chapter IX is complete! Was that a huge surprise? Did we completely catch you off guard?_******Who'd have thought it? It was Kitazawa all along! **_–coughs- Ahem. Well, I had explained the plot to Cia already and who the voice belonged to, so she knew all along what I meant. Therefore, when she wrote it I knew what she was going to write too. I had planned it to be Kitazawa from the start, so there you go._******We're so grateful to all your reviews, so if you want to read more you have to review now! **_We still haven't revealed the true meaning of Shu-chan's dream yet! You can't stop reviewing till the end of the fic! _**__****We hoped you liked that one! I liked writing it! **_Yeah, she didn't do her work in citizenship just so she could write this._******–sweatdrops- Not that I usually do any work in citizenship anyway**. _Anyway, hope that you liked that Chapter! _**__****Ja ne and review soon!**

_- Hikari-kun and Cia-chan -_


	10. Chapter X

**A/N:** Waah! –dodges flying books and rotten fruit- I'm sorry! I know I haven't updated in ages! But unfortunately I have been eaten alive by the great demon enemy of all writers known as writer's block and neither myself nor Cia could actually think of a good way to begin this chapter. Eventually I struck inspiration just shortly after I replied to Dejichan4444's PM (so I have you to thank for this!) while wearing my new Gravitation t-shirt and listening to Sleepless Beauty, the piano version. I had asked Dejichan4444 to help me write up Chapter X since it was getting nowhere, but even still even though she couldn't help me out, I'm sure she gave me the inspiration I needed to get back on track, so thanks Dejichan4444! This chapter is for you!

Another thanks to Suanne for her constant help in reviewing. You totally rock! And the rest of you do too! Hope cookie showers rain down on you all!

Well, what else can I say? The beginning of this chapter is a bit odd, but it's basically a lead in to the main chapter (which is short! XD I'm sorry!). Like I think I might've said earlier, Cia didn't assist me with the writing of this chapter, and therefore she hasn't seen it so she can't make any comments about it (I did it after I got home from school ya see, so she hasn't read it herself yet). But anyway, I hope you like it. It's a bit confusing, but I hope some things might get you to start seeing the meaning of the dream. The meaning of the dream should be explained next chapter. Anyway, here ya go! What you've been waiting for! This is Pure as the Snow Chapter X! Enjoy!

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter X**

Some people believe dreams are made to be understood, that they have hidden meaning. Others believe they are just jumbled up pictures of a person's imagination, with no meaning and no point. They would simply rather lie in bed and see only black as they fell into sleep then see a bunch of pictures which have no value and no meaning.

It would be nice to think these people are right, however one person's dream can make all the difference in this world. And the point is this: Dreams are not meant to be understood, but to give you some direction as to what you have to do with your life in order to make it worthwhile. That is what dreams are for. To carve a path from reality and into fantasy, and show you things that might not come true, but that you can strive for.

So go, take your dream and carve a path through reality. And more importantly, follow through that dream, no matter where it takes you.

* * *

_The cold winter breeze swept through the winter wonderland that was the dream world once more. Except, this wasn't a winter wonderland. This was a place of darkness… a place of lost hope…_

_Shuichi himself lay motionless on the red snow, unable to move. Kitazawa stared down at him, chuckling to himself._

"_You really are pathetic aren't you fool? Well let me tell you if you think you're the only one suffering here, you're dead wrong. You know what, he's suffering too. So am I. We all need to move on. And you're the only one who can do something about it. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and pretending that you're the victim and open your damn eyes! Can you see? This world is a reflection! A reflection of someone's life! And yet you still don't see that? How many more hints do you need before you can work it out?"_

_Shuichi sobbed into the snow. He had no idea. He was truly confused. This world was a reflection of someone's life? What the heck did that mean? A reflection? A memory?_

… _a memory…_

_It struck him like a nail struck wood. A memory. This world was a memory of an event. An event in someone's life. It was a reflection of both Kitazawa's life, and someone else's. A reflection of the 'he' that Kitazawa kept mentioning. 'Him'… 'Him'… _

"… _Yuki?"_

_

* * *

_

His eyes half open, he re-read the passage over and over again and again, trying to get things through his head. What in the heck was he writing? A reflection? A reflection of what? Even Yuki himself didn't get his own story. It made no sense. A reflection? A memory? Whose memories? His own? Kitazawa's? He smacked a hand to his forehead, as if trying to make sense of it all. Why couldn't dreams ever be simple? Why couldn't they make some sort of easy sense? Why didn't he understand?

He thought. He closed his eyes and thought deeply about everything he knew about this story. It had come from nowhere, and yet every few moments he felt compelled to write more and more. He knew nothing about it, other than that his two main characters finally had names: Kitazawa and Shuichi. Shuichi… God, every time he re-read over that name his chest hurt. It became so tight he found it hard to breathe. It was eight days. Eight days and the brat still hadn't come home. And through all the moments Shuichi had been missing, he'd been here, writing this story as if under the control of some greater force. He should be out there looking for his lover, not sitting here writing. But he couldn't look away. He couldn't leave the chair. He couldn't exit the room. And more importantly, his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. They typed of their own free will, and all he could do was sit back and watch as a flood of words filled the screen.

Some greater force out there was taking control of his will, and he was powerless to stop it.

* * *

If dreams were simple, there'd be no point to them and they wouldn't be dreams.

This phrase is known to be true. Dreams are nearly always out of human reach. They always will be. Yet some dreams that need to be realised can make the entire world shake and crumble in an instant. For instance, the dream of that one person had caused a string of events to take place. That dream had awakened a reality no human could comprehend or understand.

The gateway of dreams had been opened, and the snow of July had come with it. But now the snow was black, but no longer falling. It was frozen in midair, in mid-fall. The people of Tokyo were frozen too, frozen in a moment of time. Only one being was still able to move during this moment. This was Eiri Yuki.

The heavens shrieked. The sea wailed. The earth shook. The wind howled.

Then, that moment was broken. Life returned to normal once more. Time had been re-awoken. And only one being would ever have heard, seen and witnessed these strange events. That being was the one known as Eiri Yuki, who at that moment in time, when all had frozen, was being drawn further and further inside his own story, by his fingers which were no longer of his own control.

A scream from hell ripped out. The snow continued its decent to the ground below.

* * *

**_A/N:_**_Gods, I know that was short **and TERRIBLE**. But I've been writing this chapter alone since Cia is all out of ideas and so was I. Today I just got struck by inspiration though, when I was listening to the piano version of Sleepless Beauty and reading Gravitation manga volume 1. It just all fell into place. The first bit I sorta changed from that little bit that Shuichi thinks in class (you know, the bit where he screamed when he realised all his data had gone) and I moulded it. If any of you have any sense, you'll have some sort of idea as to what's going on. I'm trying really hard to make sure the story's not too long; I know you don't want to be reading this past seventeen chapters, and I really don't want to write it to seventeen chapters either. But anyway, if you've twigged anything, keep your mouth shut in the reviews please, m'kay? Just so everyone who hasn't worked it out gets a bit of a surprise when I finally reveal all the details of the dream, which I'm hoping is the next chapter. I'm even thinking of a sort-of sequel, another Gravi fic from me. What do ya think? Do you want to hear another Gravi fic from me? I've got a title in mind, and a plot might come shortly after that, so tell me if you want it and I promise to try and get another fic sorted and typed up soon (after, of course, I finish up this fic). Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. If you don't get it, don't worry. And don't keep telling me you're all confused! No offence, but if you tell me that it makes it much harder to write the story, so just put your thinking cap on and think over it for a while, and unless you're really, really dense I'm sure you'll begin to understand it as the story begins to finish up. Anyway, that's it from me. Review soon!_

_- Hikari-kun -_


	11. Chapter XI

**A/N:** Yo there! T'is I! And I am alone once again, since it is now officially Easter Break and Cia and I will probably not see each other for another two weeks. Anyway, quick update. Probably another short chapter (I don't know 'cos at this point I haven't written it yet, I'm typing up Author's Notes first). This chapter has been inspired by my friend Kirst and my's version of Sleepless Beauty, which she can play on piano and got me to sing over, for our music exam after Easter Break. I'll leave a link to the song (and the piano version alone) on my profile ('cos we recorded it) and you guys can take a listen and tell me whatcha think in the reviews. I'm being very brave here with this offer since my singing sucks, and I'm sure you'll think so too. I cannot sing low notes very well. But Kirst's playing in the song is amazing. I've got it on repeat, and like I said it is my inspiration for writing this chapter, so I dedicate this particular chapter to Kirst, for her inspiration and for being such a brilliant friend and not getting mad at me every time I screwed up while trying to record this. Thanks Kirst: )

Anyway, I'm glad things are finally starting to fit together. I'll try and give off the meaning of the dream in this chapter, so you can understand it, but I'm making no promises. I never know how my chapters'll turn out until I finish writing them, and like I said I've only written the start of this one at this point. But anyway, thank you all for your reviews, and here's chapter XI!

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter XI**

_Kitazawa stared down at the lifeless form in front of him. He was a soul seeking redemption, a soul trying to right the mistakes that he made in the past, so he could move on with his life, or rather his life after death. He was told in order to move on he had to repair the damage he had done all those years ago, but even he knew only one person could truly repair the damage, and as sad as it was it wasn't him. No, the only person who could repair the damage for him was lying right before him. That person was lying on the snow covered floor, frozen in both fear and pain. And he obviously had next to no clue what was going on._

_Fed up with waiting for the moron below him to actually figure out what was going on, he kicked him slightly in the side, trying to cause some sort of movement to reassure him that the lump wasn't dead yet. He shouldn't be; because he was in the dream world he should've been able to resist the cold air and freezing temperatures around him just like Kitazawa could. But of course, Shuichi wasn't dead like Kitazawa. He was a living, breathing soul so obviously the kind of things he'd go through here would have a much more serious effect on him than it would on Kitazawa. So despite him saying that Shuichi wasn't suffering in any way by being here, to be honest just because Kitazawa the dead soul himself couldn't feel the horrors of the dream world or actually see the dream world clearly himself, he had no idea what Shuichi must've be going through._

_He sighed relief when the lump moved slightly because of the kick to his side and chuckled lightly to himself. Okay, so he was still alive after all. He was a fighter. He was sure to survive. After all, he wouldn't be with Eiri if he wasn't strong emotionally in any way._

_

* * *

_

Yuki's fingers took control, sweeping over the keyboard and typing in each letter with such force it made the desk shake. Eventually, after a certain point his fingers stopped moving to allow him to read over the passage he had just written, and horror filled his face.

_Eiri…_

The name was definitely his own, there was no denying that. So, now there were three names he recognised. Shuichi, Kitazawa and Eiri. Obviously this couldn't be a coincidence. This had to mean something. Anything at all, but it had to have a meaning. No kind of thing could be a coincidence on this level. Without even giving him enough time to think, his fingers swept across the keyboard once again.

* * *

_Shuichi shifted slightly as Kitazawa's foot connected with his side. He was thinking hard, trying desperately to solve this puzzle which confused him so much that the only things he knew were that this had something to do with both Yuki and Kitazawa. But what did it mean?_

_Okay, so what did Yuki and Kitazawa have in common? They were both called Yuki and they had both known each other in New York all those years ago. So what was the connection?_

… _Yuki…_

_Did the name have something to do with it? Was that the main connecting factor between the two? Okay, so how did the name connect with the dream world?_

… _snow…_

_Yuki was Japanese for snow._

_

* * *

_

Coincidence on this level was not only abnormal but also impossible, Yuki concluded as his fingers paused in mid-typing. Now he was more worried than ever. So that must mean that Shuichi was in this story with Kitazawa. That Shuichi was trapped in the dream world with Kitazawa, the monster who had ruined his life.

His eyes didn't do as they should, and somehow moved up to a few paragraphs up.

'… _He was a soul seeking redemption, a soul trying to right the mistakes that he made in the past, so he could move on with his life, or rather his life after death. He was told in order to move on he had to repair the damage he had done all those years ago, but even he knew only one person could truly repair the damage, and as sad as it was it wasn't him. No, the only person who could repair the damage for him was lying right before him…'_

So Kitazawa had dragged Shuichi into the dream world because he needed to right a mistake in the past? Well that mistake was pretty damn clear. There was only one possible mistake Kitazawa could've done that he needed to repent for. And that was the mistake that he had made in New York way back then.

Yuki forced his fingers back under his own will. He had to warn Shuichi of the dream's meaning. He just had to. And so he fought back the forces commanding him to write otherwise and he wrote exactly the things that he was Shuichi to know.

* * *

_He was at the end of his rope. He knew he might possibly die soon. He couldn't hold on much longer. The cold was finally getting to him, making him so cold he guessed he couldn't live for much longer. And suddenly a voice cried out through his mind:_

'_NEW YORK SHUICHI! THINK BACK!'_

_Shuichi sat up almost immediately and gazed up at the heavens._

"_Yuki?" he whispered._

_

* * *

_

The snow tumbled down in Tokyo, never-stopping for even a moment. Hiro stared into the black abyss that was once a great city now covered everywhere in black snow. The electricity in his apartment had gone off, and all he could do was stare into the sky in vain hope that light would come. And yet, somehow he knew that this was all because of Shuichi. He listened hard, as if trying to hear him from wherever he was, trying to communicate with him through his mind. All he heard was a scream…

… and a light flickered on in the night sky.

* * *

_**A/N:** Okay, not exactly as I'd planned it but we're getting closer to the mystery ain't we? Hope you liked that chapter. I won't bore you with long Author's Notes, but just to warn you not to expect fast updates in the future as I'm really struggling with how to end this story. Anyway, please download the songs off my profile (they're labelled so you'll know the url) and tell me either by PM or by review what you think of them. Be honest, but not to the point you say my singing is hideous, okay? 'Cos someone said that to me last night, and it actually made me cry 'cos I thought I was okay at singing. Anyway, your opinions will decide whether I sing it for the music exam after Easter, and your reviews will decide if I write any more to the story. Remember, it's difficult for a girl to sing as low as RYu does! Ja ne for now and review!_


	12. Chapter XII

**A/N:**After my long period of silence, I have finally returned with Chapter XII. And man, what a pain it was to write. I had to go out and find my inspiration; it had hidden itself under a rock –sweatdrops- It seems to enjoy hiding from me. I went out to the park round the back of my house to go and find it, and I ruined my new jeans and came back with a reward of being covered in mud and finishing the opening of Chapter XII. And after reading the new bit of **Dejichan4444**'s story "Just a Guilty Obsession" (which I highly recommend you check out) I was suddenly inspired to keep writing so this chappie is yet another dedicated to… who else than **Dejichan4444**! She's a brilliant reviewer and an even better author! –grins- Oh sorry, did that embarrass you? My bad : ) And she even helped me out with this Chapter by reading it over for me: ) Thanklies and double chocolate chip muffins (or cookies, whichever) for you: )

Anyway, it is now 19:24 on my computer clock (UK time). I wrote this chapter alone once again. Cia and I split up for Easter Break remember, so I won't see her for another week and I think the story will be finished by then, depending on how many reviews I get and how fast I can update. Mega thanks to **Suanne** for her brilliant review (as per usual!). If you have an email address or whatever, I can email you the sheet music. My friend was playing it too fast so it shouldn't actually be that fast. And also, I was wondering if you'd mind if I sent you the last chapter before I put it up? Otherwise it might totally suck and I wanted to get your opinion of it first since you are such an expert reviewer : ) I hope that's okay with you.

Well, here it is! The result of all my blood, sweat and tears. The reward for getting my clothes completely muddy. Here is Pure as the Snow Chapter XII!

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter XII**

To understand a dream, one must first know of its true meaning. Of course, that is that dreams are made to show direction, not truth. Dreams are almost like teleporters to hidden dimensions you didn't even know existed. This dream in particular, was a teleporter to a world which was a reflection of reality, a memory of the past. Or, at least, that is how it appears.

Different people have different perspectives. They see things in different lights. So what may appear obvious to you, may not be so for them. This is exactly the story of the dream world. While it's meaning may be obvious to some, to others it is shrouded in mystery.

Tell me, can you see through the dream?

* * *

Typing furiously with all his willpower and inner strength and might, Yuki wrote out the story just as he wanted to tell it.

* * *

'_IT'S NEW YORK SHUICHI! HE'S TALKING ABOUT NEW YORK! THE EVENT! IT'S THAT EVENT!'_

_Shuichi blinked. That was definitely his Yuki calling out to him. But which event heavily connected both Kitazawa and Yuki in New York?_

… _the night Yuki killed Kitazawa._

_It was so blindingly obvious. It had been right from the start. How could he possibly have been so dense? Of course that was the event! It was the only event that would possibly connect the two at all! It made perfect sense!_

… _now the question was, how to heal the snow?_

_This could take some time…_

_

* * *

_

Yuki growled in frustration. He wished he himself knew how to heal the snow. He didn't even understand what would heal himself, let alone what might possibly heal Kitazawa. Sure, Shuichi was the answer, but there had to be something that he had to do in order to heal the damage. And that "something" was something that Yuki simply didn't know. His fingers suddenly had their own mind back and more words flooded the screen; for the brief moment his will had weakened he had lost all control and once again was held back and forced to watch his lover suffer through his work…

* * *

_Time suddenly sped up. The snow fell at twice it's usual rate and even the snow falling from the sky was the shade of blood red which he couldn't stand the sight of. The stench got even more lethal, causing him to vomit once again. The world darkened over once again. Kitazawa couldn't actually control what was going on anymore. At the start, he had been able to control the activities in this dream world, but suddenly all the control had slipped through his fingers. Even he, the dead entity himself, was scared now. He fell to his knees. He could feel the overwhelming sadness of the world. He could see the darkness as clear as if it were light. The smell became overpowering and sickening. The cold began to nibble at him, causing him to go numb in places. _

_He was stuck in some dark place, with no sense of direction in a world where nothing was certain and he had no control. _

_This was exactly what Shuichi had been feeling all along. How he had felt since the moment he had fully become engulfed by the dream world and stuck in this limbo land he couldn't get out of. Kitazawa could feel not only his own pain, but surely this was the same pain as Shuichi. This was the same fear as Shuichi. And he wondered, what mess had he created? His world had suddenly lost all control…_

_As the light flooded back into the plains, Kitazawa saw the colours as bright and vivid as real life. As if he were alive. Before he could only see them in the faintest light. But now it was almost like he was alive._

_It was like being on the brink of death all over again._

_His senses had become sharpened, just like the moment before he died. When he had actually died, things had become fainter. Pain had become harder to feel. Fear had not even been an issue._

_Now, Kitazawa actually feared for his after-life._

_His eyes scanned the area. The saviour, the one who could save both himself and the one who he had left scars that couldn't heal, was missing amongst the snow. He became frantic. Without that boy, he couldn't move on and they would both remain stuck here. And only the heavens knew what might become of Tokyo…_

_

* * *

_

His fingers paused in mid-type. Tokyo? What was happening to Tokyo? Yuki commanded his body to move to the living room window, and horror struck his face.

The beautiful city of Tokyo, a land of neon lights and never-ending nightlife, was engulfed in darkness. The only splashes of colour around were some faint lights in the distance and the lone star up in the sky which was slowly fading away into the endless night.

He jumped slightly as the electricity in his apartment suddenly went out. Everything went black. He couldn't see anything, except for the glowing light in his study where his laptop was.

The laptop…

It hadn't gone off when the power had just suddenly gone out. That he was thankful for. God knew what might happen to Shuichi and, if he dared say it, Kitazawa if the laptop went off. And as much as he hated Kitazawa, if it could bring his lover back to his arms, he'd help his tormentor in any way he could.

Without his knowing, he found himself back in front of the laptop within mere moments of his last thought, typing once again. His willpower couldn't even take over and allow him to write for himself. Words filled the screen once again.

* * *

_Kitazawa prayed and prayed for even some little light to guide him to the saviour buried under the snow as the darkness took over the dream world completely. He prayed hard, his eyes closed tightly in concentration. And, even though his eyes were closed, he saw a little light in the darkness. A light that was surely fading fast. Opening his eyes, he trusted his senses to guide him to the light. And as he came in contact with the light, the whole world flooded with light once again._

_It was over. He had to tell Shuichi how to heal the snow, or they would surely disappear and become lost in the dream world._

_He tried to force the words out of his mouth, but no words came. He clasped his hand over in mouth in shock. He'd lost his voice? Was this the work of the dream world? It had to be. There was no other explanation. The light in his arms began to fade away. He tried to call out but no words came. No… the light…_

… _was slipping away…_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:**_Hehehehe. Oh the power! But oh no! Poor Shu-chan! He's dying? Well Kitazawa better come up with a plan fast! And what's happening to Tokyo? Why's it all going dark? They've all lost control now…_

_Now, to summarise the chapter, what's happened is that Kitazawa used to be able to control anything that happened in the dream world, but he's suddenly lost control. And Yuki can't control his fingers either so they're typing exactly what he doesn't want them to type. And, so Shuichi will find out the answers on his own, Kitazawa had become unable to speak. This will all lead up to the finale, Chapter XIII. So that means one more chapter to go! Any more and I don't think it'll be worth reading. Although there will be an epilogue too, which will take place in spring the next year, so we'll just have to wait and see. _

_Also, to add something extra, I'm not deliberately trying to kill Shuichi. Putting him on the brink of death just makes the whole story seem that much more interesting. But, never fear! Shu-chan won't die! Putting him on the brink of death is the last jigsaw piece before everything before everything becomes clear. Anyway, hope you liked that chapter. It was one helluva a pain to write, and I'm sure some of the words in this aren't actually even **real **words –sweatdrops- I'm sorry, I just like inventing my own words once in a while. Even though Microsoft Word says that 'teleporter' for instance isn't a real word, I'm sure I've heard it before –shrugs- Oh well. Whatcha gonna do? I think it's a real word, so I'll just go with it._

_Anyway, review please! Ja Ne!_

_- Hikari-kun - _


	13. Chapter XIII: Finale

1**A/N:** The finale is upon us. This is Chapter XIII of Pure as the Snow. It's been a long road to get this far, but I'm so glad I stuck with writing this. It's come together so nicely and all your reviews are so supportive that you've given me the encouragement to keep writing. I mean there are 118 reviews for this story. **118!** That's my new high! I'm so happy! I owe you all tremendous thanks!

The biggest parts of my thanks go to Dejichan4444 and Suanne, who are an inspiration to everyone. Dejichan4444's stories always help me write my own and they're really well written. Suanne gives me really thoughtful reviews about how to improve my story and what-not. As I said this fic is dedicated to my best buddy Cia, and as we are still on Easter Break I am still working alone. But this chapter is dedicated to both Suanne and Dejichan4444, who I don't think I could've finished this fic without. Thank you guys so much: )

Well, without further ado, here we go. This is Pure as the Snow Chapter XIII: Finale!

* * *

**Pure as the Snow**

**Chapter XIII: Finale**

The darkness was unavoidable, pulled in by the greater force out there which no one could defeat. No one… but him. He was the only one who could be the entity of pure light and destroy the darkness which had engulfed the world. Bu(t) this entity of light… this pure being… the innocent soul…

… was slipping away into the darkness.

It was a sight which, as he read over the lines, caused the novelist to only stare blankly at the screen for a few moments, not moving, not speaking, not making a sound. A stray tear trickled down his cheek, followed by more and more. His heart felt like it was actually physically being torn in two. He couldn't fight back the tears. He couldn't fight back the overflowing sadness and emptiness that emitted from him. Eiri Yuki was crying. No… he wasn't just crying he was actually lying, slumped over his desk, his head in his arm which had been lying on the desk, crying into his arm, making the fabric go wet and soggy. What kind of monster had created this mess? Kitazawa was supposed to be righting his wrongs of the past, but instead he had taken away the one thing that had been good in his life. He couldn't stop the tears. He felt as though he was dying. The one great thing in his life he needed the most was no longer in his arms. His angel was vanishing.

_Bleep!_

The computer made an odd noise, and Yuki looked up, staring at the screen in disbelief as more words popped up on the screen.

_It is time for the nightmare to end._

Those simple words made Yuki's face light up ever so slightly. Did that mean that Shuichi wasn't dead? Was that a sign of some kind? He felt his fingers drawn to the keyboard once more, however this time they rested there, not typing anything. He wondered what he had to do. But more words came up on the screen.

_Do nothing. He will figure this out for himself._

Nodding to himself, Yuki agreed and sat back, waiting for the next bit to appear on the screen. Words flooded the screen, this time without him typing. He sat patiently and read them over.

* * *

_The entity of light was floating in a black abyss… death as some may call it. But he felt no pain, no fear. He just floated there in the space, weightless, waiting for something to do._

_Was he dead? He wasn't sure. It was impossible to tell since the light had gone out so many times in the dream world. He just had no idea where he was anymore. He lay in wait for something to happen. But nothing did. He decided that if nothing was going to happen, perhaps he had to do something. And so, he closed his eyes and thought. What possibly could heal the snow? What could heal both Yuki and Kitazawa? God, he had no idea. All he knew was that to heal the snow, it meant healing both of the 'Yuki's he knew. _

_He curled into a ball, floating aimlessly. Confused. Lost. He didn't even understand the dream. And what would it help if he understood anyway? He was a moron, Yuki had said so often enough. A moron. An inconvenience. Maybe healing Yuki meant . . . leaving him._

_Sure, Yuki had been trying to reach him and was worried about him, but he if couldn't even help Yuki what use was he to him? He was nothing. Absolutely nothing. And yet, even though he knew that, he loved Yuki with all his soul. And he thought, if there was one thing he wanted to do before he completely disappeared, it was to tell _his _Yuki how much he loved him. How much he cared about him. Just that little thing, and Shuichi was sure he'd vanish from the world happily, without regrets or cares. It was his final act of love, just to tell Yuki how deeply he loved him._

"_Yuki…" he whispered, voice hoarse from all the events in the dream world "I love you,"_

_

* * *

_

His heart beat stopped. His breathing ceased. All went quiet in the grand city of Tokyo. The man known as Eiri Yuki fell forward, collapsing onto the desk in tears, unable to fight the pain any longer. He was gone… _he_… his only shining light in the darkness… was really and truly gone for good. He wouldn't come back. And all Shuichi had wanted to say in his final minutes was how much he loved him. The only words… his final words…

All Shuichi had been capable of was loving and caring. He hadn't done anything that deserved death. He hadn't caused any harm to anyone. And yet… even still he was gone. He had passed on, devoured by the darkness…

He pulled himself back up again. He needed to say those words too, just so Shuichi could hear them before he completely faded into the darkness. His heart trembling, he typed in:

"_I love you too Shuichi,"_

_

* * *

_

"_I love you too Shuichi,"_

_The words echoed through the dream world. But Kitazawa was unable to hear them. He was mourning… mourning for the loss…_

… _the pure and innocent soul…_

_He stared at the limp body he held in his hands. Their saviour, the only person who could save himself and Eiri was gone, vanished for eternity. He was sure nothing could bring him back now. This was all his fault. He'd only wanted to move on so he could be at peace at last, but all he had caused was pain and misery. The dream world around him crumbled. It was too late for anyone. They were all going to vanish now, and Tokyo would be devoured by the darkness, completely taken in and destroyed by the greater force out there. Kitazawa had felt the force shift too, just like Shuichi and Eiri. He had felt it, but arrogantly ignored it. He'd dragged Shuichi into this world for his own selfish reasons. So that he could move on. _

_And all he'd done was destroy everything. Time was up. The world was breaking apart. _

_The saviour in his arms flared, exuded a bright light, which dispelled all the darkness. Kitazawa dropped the body in surprise, and it fell onto the snow. Or at least it would have of, had it not hovered just inches above the ground. The saviour's amethyst eyes opened, bright and clear with the innocence of a child. He rose to his feet, still floating just above the snow._

"_I know," he said, a gentle smile on his face."I know how to heal the snow,"_

_He raised his hand, palm down, and crossed the snow with it, closed his eyes, and whispered "I love you," in the quietest voice he could, putting meaning into every one of those three special words. _

_At once the red snow returned to white, a perfect white of purity. The darkness was banished into the depths of hell. The snow falling too returned to its former glory. Light lit up the skies and world turning the colours vivid and vibrant, full of life. By the time Shuichi opened his eyes once more, not even a hint of red remained. _

_Kitazawa opened his mouth to speak, and then remembered he could not._

_Once again that all-encompassing, impossibly gentle smile appeared on the saviour's young face. _

"_Don't worry," Shuichi said softly. "You can speak once again now. It's over. The darkness has been defeated. You can move on now," _

_Kitazawa stared at the saviour, almost in disbelief. Hadn't this boy been dead just moments ago? And there he was, floating on top of the snow, a kind smile on his face and he still had that innocent look in his eyes. Nothing in this world of darkness had touched him. He was unharmed._

"_How? How did you work it out?" Kitazawa asked._

"_All I wanted was to tell Yuki I loved him before I disappeared." A look of wonder filled the luminous violet eyes. "And just before I disappeared… I knew, somehow, he'd heard. I knew, somehow, he returned that love and that everything was going to be all right." A blink broke the violet spell. "And then… I woke up here again, and everything just… made sense. I've heard people say that I am the only one who can make Yuki happy, but I just… never believed that before. Maybe I'm also the only one who can heal his pain too, and free him," Shuichi replied. Then he raised a hand out to Kitazawa "This world will crumble soon. It will shatter and disappear, as if it never existed. So go. Move on. You are no longer held back for the pain you inflicted on Yuki. I will look out for him. You can rely on me,"_

_Kitazawa gave Shuichi a grateful nod, and his body was drowned in light as he vanished from the dream world and was taken to his final resting place to be at peace._

_

* * *

_

Shuichi awoke with a start. He jumped up and looked around, but was pulled back down by a pair of strong arms clasping round him. He turned round and saw the one face he had wanted to see all along.

"I'm home," he whispered. Yuki smiled and replied,

"Welcome home,"

* * *

**A/N:**_Ah that took ages to come up with! But, there it is! The final chapter you were all waiting for! It's not as great as it could possibly be, but I put lots of effort into it and worked on it for a good solid two hours before I was satisfied with it. Sure, it isn't brilliant but it's difficult to end a story y'know? And another load of thanks to Suanne for her input in tweaking things in the finale. It all sounds so much better when I re-read it through now! Thanks a lot: D Well, that's it from me. I'll see you all next time for the epilogue. Please review!_

_- Hikari-kun -_


	14. Epilogue

**Pure as the Snow**

**Epilogue**

I still find it unbelievable when I think back to the events that took place last summer. Everyone else in Tokyo seems to have forgotten about it, almost as if it never happened. But not me… no I couldn't forget it. I don't think anyone in my position could.

I think I've learned to value my brat just a little more through the experience. Not that I didn't value him at all before. But maybe, just maybe, not having him in my arms for a long period of time made me realise how truly important to me he is.

He managed to pick himself up rather quickly after the events, claiming he was fine and he was just happy to be back. Secretly I was extremely glad to have him back, but I have to keep some of my pride don't I? Telling him I didn't miss him all that much made him whine for a while, but I knew he knew I was lying. I think he could guess, judging from the fact the apartment's in such a state and I looked a complete mess when he first returned from that awful dream world. I'm sure even a pre-schooler could tell how much I missed him. Touma certainly knew, probably better than anyone else actually. But then again, Touma seems to know everything about me. At one point I swear he was stalking me… but I'm not even going to think about that…

'Pure as the Snow' sold well. Okay, it sold _really_ well. It became a best-seller in far less time than it had taken to write. And yes, I had given it in as my new novel. I'd changed the names of course, and changed a few details here and there, but I figured everyone deserved such a magnificent story. _Especially_ a story about a being who was so pure that he could heal even someone like me (not that they'll ever find out who the names really were). In fact, speaking of the book, I finally developed a theory as to the dream and it's full meaning. I had to go over it a few times with Shu, since he'd been there and knew everything that had happened much clearer than I did. But our theory was of what each part of the dream represented. To expand, the snow in the dream world was referring to both Kitazawa and myself, the black that overtook the world was referring to the lead up to Kitazawa's death and the blood red snow, of course, symbolised Kitazawa's death… or should I say his murder. That reminds me, I keep hearing from Kitazawa occasionally. Seems he's become some sort of guardian angel for me. Not sure whether he's actually my guardian angel or not, but he gets at me if I ever have a fight with Shu or something now, just like a nagging parent. Except it's _far_ worse because it's just a consistent voice that won't go away until I admit I'm in the wrong and go apologise.

As for Shu… well his nightmares have disappeared. Shortly after he got back to the living world he told me about them, and I confessed that I'd guessed something was up from the crying in his sleep and the blood I'd seen on his hands one day. As for how he's coping, he's actually been pretty upbeat like I said before. I don't think anything could keep him down anyway, but I can sense something might still be on his mind. However, he knows I'm here if he wants to talk about it, so I'm sure in his own time he'll come and tell me. I just have to give him space for a little while and be as supportive as I can without seeming like I'm going soft (I'm not dammit! Don't even start with that!). We'll just have to see how things go from now on.

I'm planning to take the brat out tomorrow, surprise trip for his Birthday. He doesn't know I've got it all planned out, but to be honest I started planning it way before Christmas last year, so that this year he'd have a better Birthday than the one he had last year, which consisted of Tatsuha jumping out of a cake and tackling him; the poor kid had nightmares about it for weeks. But this year I'm taking him to a special place I know of where the Sakura trees should be in full bloom and then I'm planning to take him back home where I got Touma to sort out his party for when we get back (I did _not_ want to trust Tatsuha with arranging the party this year, unless I wanted a repeat of last year). Actually, speaking of the brat he's sulking outside because I told him I hadn't planned anything for his Birthday tomorrow and he's upset because he thinks I forgot all about it. That reminds me, I need to try and wrap up his present… or perhaps I could get Touma to do that as well… nah. I'll do it myself later. He'll feel all the more special if I do it myself, even if I don't _do_ wrapping presents. I think he'll like it, but I'm not going to spoil the surprise.

Unfortunately, that annoying, _nagging_ voice of Kitazawa is ringing in my ears telling me to stop being mean and go apologise to Shu. Or maybe that my conscience? God only knows. I can't tell what's going on in my head anymore. I seem to have gained a number of voices since the incident… or maybe that really is just my conscience getting louder. Damn… I'll go apologise later. If I do it now then the surprise will be spoiled so just shut up for a moment will you, stupid voice! Well, that seems to have worked… for now. Fine, fine. I'll go apologise to him, just so long as that _stupid _voice just stays quiet from now till the end of tomorrow.

Who knows, maybe it is just my conscience growing stronger after all.

* * *

Yuki can be such a jerk at times. Doesn't mean I don't love him though. The experience last summer just brought me even closer to him I guess. He seems to be apologising more recently, even if they seem like reluctant apologies. I think maybe the incident had some effect on him too. He's not nearly as willing to let me go out on my own anymore. I think he's afraid if I do I'll just disappear, just like I did back then. It wasn't my fault I got dragged into that world by Kitazawa! And speaking of Kitazawa, it appears he's left for the other world and is doing fine. He gives me regular updates on how he's doing, asking me if I'm alright and if I've recovered and things like that. Recently his voice has died away though, and I don't hear it as often. But I remember, about a day after I returned from the dream world, he called out to me and said something like _"You are Eiri's one and only guardian angel"_. Heh… it'd be nice to think I could always protect him, though it seems more like Yuki's always coming to protect me rather than the other way round. But it's nice to think of it that way.

I wonder if Kitazawa's really alright… bet he's having a blast wherever he is.

To be honest, after the experience I learned not only a few things about myself and Yuki, but also I think I may have understood a few things about Kitazawa too. Kitazawa isn't really all that bad a person. Just because he'd dragged me into the dream world didn't mean he was evil. He wanted to correct the mistake he'd made in the past; was that really so wrong of him? He wanted to move on, and he couldn't do it himself so he had asked me to help him… okay he'd really given me no choice, but I'd much rather help him cross over and heal both their pain then have my Yuki suffer like that. I don't ever want to see my Yuki suffer like that ever again. In fact, I know that underneath his hard exterior, Yuki is a very kind person, he has just locked himself away. He doesn't want anyone to see the real him, although he'll give me short glimpses now and then. He's been doing it more often recently. I wonder if Kitazawa has been speaking to him too. I doubt it. Last time we talked, Kitazawa said that we were 'connected' which, in essence, meant that he could only talk to me like this. Or maybe he found another way to talk to Yuki. The point is, I've realised something about the person I love and the person he once loved. And, I've learned one or two things about myself. Although I may not be strong on my exterior, deep down I can endure a lot and still bounce back. Sure it takes a little time, it always does, but I don't believe in going down and staying down. I want to get back on my feet again at one point, be it sooner or later. And the other thing I've learned about myself, something that I never knew before, is that without Yuki I can hardly live. I mean, I can survive, but my interior is shattered without being able to feel my lover's touch, hear his voice or see his face. It's just that's really the best way I can describe it.

It's my Birthday tomorrow. I would be all happy, but I think Yuki completely forgot. I'm not mad at him, I'm just gonna sulk for a little bit. I'm actually a little annoyed at him, but not mad. I mean, for his Birthday I organised everything and I think he enjoyed it (not that he would actually tell me though, but I'm sure a few times that day I saw a smile creep across his face). I baked him a cake too! Unfortunately, I left it in the oven too long and it not only burned, but it nearly made the whole house catch on fire. To make matters worse, the second I went to cut the cake for my Yuki, it crumbled to ash! I got a well deserved whack on the head for that by Yuki, however I'm sure I heard him chuckling when the whole thing crumbled. I've become a little more aware of Yuki's tell-tale signals suddenly, so I can tell sort of what he's feeling at those times. I'm really proud of myself actually. I never thought I'd be able to learn his signals so quickly! Hehe… but I'm not gonna tell him I know. He probably knows already. Yuki knows an awful lot judging from that smug smirk he keeps on his face whenever he sees me. Occasionally that smug smirk changes into a small smile, but that's still a rarity. I don't think no matter what I do I could ever get Yuki to grin the way I do. It just isn't possible. Can't be done. But I have fun trying!

Yuki's just come out of his study, and is regarding me with that trademark smirk right now as I sulk beside the door. I can guess what he's going to say in a minute.

"You shouldn't sit behind the door idiot. What if I bashed you with it?"

Well, I was close enough with regard to my guess.

"So? And I'm not sitting behind the door, I'm sitting _beside_ the door," I reply, a little pleased with my comeback. Although I know Yuki has a thousand others he can use in this situation, I also know he just can't beat my logic.

"Whatever,"

See? I told you!

He bends down next to me and turns my face to face him. It's times like this when I'm trying to act mad with him that I get annoyed. And there he is, with his lovely face and that smirk still on his lips. He knows within moments I'm going to crumble, just like that cake. In a way I'll be glad when I do, because I hate pretending to be mad with him. However, it's just so he knows I'm upset. If I kept a smile and didn't tell him, I'm sure he wouldn't guess easily. Or maybe I don't know Yuki as well as I think. Eep… my brain hurts. I'm thinking too much.

Yuki bends in and gives me what I call the 'innocent' kiss. It's just the right type to unfortunately break down my barriers of being mad and get me to crumble. I can't take it anymore! I've gotta crumble!

"Yuuuuuki!" I complain waving my arms about madly and punching him lightly on the arm "You're eeeeeeeeviiiiiiil!"

The smirk. He's _still_ maintaining it and it's even wider this time because he knows I've crumbled. He holds out his hand, and in it I see something I didn't think I'd see.

On the paper I hold in my hand, in his best handwriting, my Yuki has written _'I'm sorry'._

"Yuuuuuuuuuki!" I yell, jumping at him and glomping him. His response is a sigh, but I can see that smile on his face, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Giving in, he allows me to glomp him for as long as I see fit. The one great thing about Yuki, is that recently he seems to not mind so much my bouncy behaviour. I think he missed it while I was away. Even if he has forgotten my Birthday, I don't care right now.

Hehe… I'm definitely adding this note to my Yuki shrine that's hidden in the bedroom.

**-_ Fin_**

**_

* * *

_**

**A/N:** There! It's finished! Completely! That is the epilogue and story completed! It's been a long road, and I thank you all for your reviews muchly. Sorry if Yuki seems a bit OOC. I tried to make him softer without making him too soft, but I'm afraid I don't think I succeeded. Anyway, in case you were being a bit dumbish, the first half is set in Yuki's POV and the second half is set in Shuichi's POV. I think it's a really cute way to finish the story and I hope you think so too. Look out for more Gravitation fics by myself and Cia! I'm afraid that, yes, we're still on Easter Break so I wrote that epilogue on my own and couldn't get Cia to check it over. Oh well. But anyway, thanks for all your reviews! This chapter is another dedicated to Dejichan4444 for reading over the epilogue and correcting it in places. I don't know what I would do without you: ) Hoped you liked the epilogue and review soon!

- Hikari-kun -


	15. What? There's a Sequel?

**Pure as the Snow**

**What? There's a sequel?**

**UPDATE 17/10/06 – "True Light" Has Been Published!**

After a rather shaky first attempt at a sequel to 'Pure as the Snow', "True Light" has entered the atmosphere, and now there really is a _true_ sequel to this story :)

All readers, new and old, are completely welcome to read it. It might be a bit confusing if you didn't read the very first one though!

Hope to see you all at the reviews section to "True Light"!

( _http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/3202676/1/_ ) - - Copy and paste the link to arrive at the sequel! But remember to change the '(dot)'s into full-stops!

See you all there soon I hope!

_- Hikari-kun -_

_( Now officially, -ThE-gEnIuS-hIkArI- )_


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